State-owned power utility Eskom has credited its televised Power Alert initiative for record cumulative residential consumer savings of 430 MW during June – more than the amount of electricity required to power a city the size of Mangaung, in the Free State.

Statistics for the months of July, August and September were not yet available.

The Power Alert messages are televised each evening and call on users to switch off nonessential appliances during peak hours.

“Our audited estimates show that during February, Power Alert achieved a 326 MW reduction in residential demand, equivalent to more than 3.6-million laptops being switched off across South Africa,” Eskom indicates.

During March, a 346 MW reduction was achieved, equal to nearly 580 000 fridges being switched off.

In April, electricity use declined by 421 MW, equivalent to more than 140 000 electrical geyser elements being switched off. A saving of 428 MW was made in May, which, measured in terms of a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions, was equivalent to 13 000 fewer cars on the roads.

“We urge all South Africans to partner with us to save 10% of their electricity usage, especially during peak periods, from 5 pm to 9 pm. This will make it significantly easier to manage the power system during this challenging time, while also enabling us to do planned maintenance to ensure the reliability of our plant,” Eskom says.

Peak demand for the coming days is forecast to be 30 286 MW on Friday, 29 394 MW on Saturday, 28 932 MW on Sunday, 31 510 MW on Monday, 31 453 MW on Tuesday and 31 351 MW on Wednesday.

Planned maintenance stands at 2 030 MW, while 5 984 MW is being lost to unplanned outages.